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Friday, July 5, 2013

Thrones, stairs and ambassadors

The few visitors in the throne hall of King Narai's palace were leaving
when I got there. Pleased with the solitude, I lingered. The quiet
seemed to usher in an opportunity to commune with the spirit of the
ruins, however fleeting it was.

Like usual thrones this one is elevated. Over at his palace King Narai had foreign dignitaries, those of France's King Louise XIV whose practice of wearing high heels was hypothetically due to his short height. There must have been some influence or connection there.

This is the Dusit Sawan hall. The stairs are steep. Imagine King Narai going up the
steps to sit on his throne. I reckon the act was not very comfortable, but
then I'm no king and they must have adapted some fashion of climbing steep stairs in 1666.

This is a close-up of the memorial plaque by the throne. It portrays King Narai granting an audience with French ambassadors -

The ruins still exuded so much character. Ambling behind the throne was like playing hide n' seek with whatever friendly ghost was left in there. Numerous climbs must have taken place on this flight of
stairs before the roof went off to reveal that sole flier in the vast space above.

No, Karen but when I reached and saw the place I was not impressed at all. It resembled a row of low budget, low quality, very simple classrooms. Guess the women were not wives, but more like concubines.

I always think of having to do all of these royal things when feeling sick and old. Not letting on that your knees are killing you. That your stomach keeps repeating what you had for breakfast. Just wanting to get off your feet and be alone, really alone. But then royalty can never be truly alone, especially when everyone is watching you climb all those stairs.